Apparatus and method for coloring skin

ABSTRACT

In one embodiment, an apparatus for coloring skin includes a base and a number of skin coloring elements configured to couple to the base and extend therefrom. Each skin coloring element includes a coloring agent disposed proximate a free end thereof. The coloring agents are adapted to color a desired area of the skin when directed over the desired area of the skin through movement of the apparatus substantially parallel to the skin.

TECHNICAL FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates generally to the field of cosmetics and,more particularly, to an apparatus and method for coloring skin.

BACKGROUND

One of the main problems with respect to a person's hair is sometimesthe lack of it. Typically, the aging of a person brings upon thinninghair or, especially in males, a receding hairline or bald spots in whichthe person's scalp is exposed. In addition, a person may suffer accidentor disease that causes thinning hair or bald spots or requires treatment(such as chemotherapy) that causes these effects. Loss of a person'shair can be very embarrassing and can cause the person to suffer a lackof confidence in their appearance and to refrain from going out inpublic.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

In one embodiment, an apparatus for coloring skin includes a base and anumber of skin coloring elements configured to couple to the base andextend therefrom. Each skin coloring element includes a coloring agentdisposed proximate a free end thereof. The coloring agents are adaptedto color a desired area of the skin when directed over the desired areaof the skin through movement of the apparatus substantially parallel tothe skin.

Particular embodiments of the invention may provide one or moretechnical advantages. For example, certain embodiments may provide abrush that facilitates the coloring of a person's scalp to camouflagethinning hair, receding hair lines, bald spots, and the like. Elongatedcoloring elements associated with the brush, each having a coloringagent at a free end thereof, may be directed through the hair with asuitable brushing motion that ensures the coloring agents are broughtinto contact with the person's scalp in order to color desired portionsof the scalp. In certain embodiments, the elongated coloring elementsare individually interchangeable so that different colors and colorcombinations may be utilized in order to match a person's hair color. Incertain embodiments, the shape of the “brushing” portion of the brushmay also be manipulated depending on the portion of the scalp that needsto be treated. In certain embodiments, both sides of the brush mayinclude the elongated coloring elements so that both side of the brushmay be utilized according to particular needs.

Certain embodiments may provide all, some, or none of these advantages.Certain embodiments may provide one or more other technical advantages,one or more of which may be readily apparent to those skilled in the artfrom the figures, descriptions, and claims included herein.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

For a more complete understanding of the invention, and for furtherfeatures and advantages, reference is now made to the followingdescription, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, inwhich:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view illustrating an example apparatus forcoloring skin;

FIGS. 2A and 2B are views illustrating example attachment of elongatedcoloring elements to a base of the apparatus illustrated in FIG. 1; and

FIGS. 3A and 3B are perspective and elevation views, respectively,illustrating an example method of coloring a person's scalp.

DESCRIPTION OF EXAMPLE EMBODIMENTS

Example embodiments of the present invention and their advantages arebest understood by referring now to FIGS. 1 through 3B of the drawings,in which like numerals refer to like parts.

FIG. 1 is a perspective view illustrating an example apparatus 100, suchas a brush, for coloring a scalp. Although the following descriptiondiscusses the utilization of brush 100 to color a scalp, the presentinvention contemplates coloring other parts of a body using brush 100.In addition, although the following description discusses theutilization of brush 100 to treat a scalp of a human, the presentinvention contemplates coloring skins of animals using brush 100.

Although brush 100 may have many functions, in one embodiment theprimary function of brush 100 is to color a person's scalp. People,especially men, may have thinning hair, receding hairlines, bald spots,and the like. This is often embarrassing and makes a personself-conscious. Therefore, in one embodiment, brush 100 functions tocolor a person's scalp in order to camouflage thinning hair, recedinghairlines, bald spots, and the like in order to enhance the person'sappearance.

In the illustrated embodiment, brush 100 includes a base 102 having ahandle 104 that may be formed integral with base 102 or be a separateelement from base 102 and attached to base 102 in any suitable manner.Base 102 includes a plurality of apertures 105 formed therein that areconfigured to accept a plurality of skin coloring elements 106 therein.Each skin coloring element 106 has a coloring agent 108 disposed at itsfree end.

Base 102 and handle 104 may be formed from any suitable material and maybe formed in any suitable shape. For example, base 102 and handle 104may be formed from plastic, rubber, or wood. In the illustratedembodiment, base 102 and handle 104 are in the general shape of a brush;however, base 102 and handle 104 may take the form of a comb or may haveany other suitable configuration. It is preferable that handle 104 belong enough to accept a person's hand thereon so that the person mayutilize brush 100 in a manner that directs skin coloring elements 106over the person's skin.

Skin coloring elements 106 may be coupled to base 102 in any suitablemanner. Two such methods of coupling skin coloring elements 106 to base102 are described below with reference to FIGS. 2A and 2B. Althoughtwelve skin coloring elements 106 are illustrated in FIG. 1 extendingfrom a first side 109 of base 102 in a generally staggered pattern, anysuitable number of skin coloring elements 106 may be coupled to base 102and may be arranged in any suitable configuration. Skin coloringelements 106 may also extend from a second side 111 of base 102 so thatthe user is able to utilize both sides of brush 100 as desired. Forexample, if coloring agents 108 on skin coloring elements 106 on firstside 109 of base 102 are not working properly, are dull, or are adifferent color than desired, then a user can flip brush 100 over andutilize skin coloring elements 106 extending from second side 111.

In one embodiment, skin coloring elements 106 resemble conventionaleyebrow pencils having coloring agents 108 disposed within their coreand may be sharpened in a conventional manner when coloring agents 108become dull. In one embodiment, skin coloring elements 106 are adaptedto be selectively removable from base 102, as described in more detailbelow with reference to FIGS. 2A and 2B. Skin coloring elements 106 mayextend from base 102 any suitable length and skin coloring elements mayhave any suitable shape. Typically, skin coloring elements 106 aregenerally circular in cross-section and extend from either first side109 or second side 111 of base 102 approximately 0.5-1.5 inches.

Coloring agent 108 may be any suitable material adapted to color theskin. In a particular embodiment, coloring agent 108 is formed from asuitable combination of the following materials: hydrogenated coconutoil, hydrogenated coco-glycerides, hydrogenated tallow, cetyl esters,carnauba wax, paraffin, castor oil, lanolin, isopropyl myristate,methylparaben, propylparaben, bht, iron oxides, manganese violet, ferricammonium ferrocyanide, titanium dioxide, ultramarines, mica, chromium,hydrogenated green, and aluminum powder. In addition, coloring agent 108may be any suitable color and may have any suitable characteristics(e.g., metallic, glossy, etc.). In this manner, coloring agents 108 maybe matched to a person's hair in order to enhance the camouflagedappearance of the thinning hair, receding hairline, bald spot, or thelike. Although coloring agent 108 is illustrated as having a generallyconical shape, coloring agent 108 may have any suitable configurationdepending on the form of skin coloring elements 106. Coloring agent 108may be coupled to the free ends of skin coloring elements 106 in anysuitable manner. Since coloring agents 108 are utilized to color andchange the appearance of the skin, it is important that the type ofchemical or material used for coloring agents 108 be safe for the skin.In a particular embodiment where skin coloring elements 106 are utilizedto color a person's scalp, it is important that coloring agents 108 besafe for the scalp. For example, many chemicals used for dying orotherwise coloring a person's hair may be irritating or harmful to thescalp. It is important that these types of chemicals not be used forcoloring agents 108.

FIGS. 2A and 2B are cross-sectional views illustrating exampleattachment of skin coloring elements 106 to base 102. The couplingmethods illustrated in FIGS. 2A and 2B are only two examples of a myriadof coupling methods contemplated by the present invention for couplingskin coloring elements 106 to base 102. For example, instead of thoseshown in FIGS. 2A and 2B, a threaded attachment method may be utilizedin which a threaded end of skin coloring element 106 is rotated toengage corresponding threads in base 102.

In the embodiment illustrated in FIG. 2A, a single skin coloring element106 is shown coupled to base 102 near a center portion of skin coloringelement 106. In this embodiment, skin coloring element 106 includescoloring agents 108 at each of its ends. In order to couple skincoloring element 106 to base 102 in this embodiment, skin coloringelement 106 includes one or more protrusions 200 disposed around aperimeter thereof that engages one or more grooves 202 formed withinaperture 105 of base 102. In this manner, skin coloring element 106 maybe “snapped” into place in order to couple skin coloring element 106 tobase 102. Both protrusion 200 and groove 202 may have any suitable sizeand configuration in order to facilitate the engagement of protrusion200 in groove 202. In this embodiment, the adequacy of the engagement ofprotrusion 200 in groove 202 should be such that a user is able toinsert skin coloring element 106 into base 102 without undue effortwhile allowing enough stability to assure that skin coloring 106 stayscoupled to base 102 when a user is using brush 100 and coloring agent108 is pressed against the skin.

In the embodiment illustrated in FIG. 2B, there exist two separate skincoloring elements 106 extending from either side of base 102. In thismanner, a user may remove one of the skin coloring elements 106 on oneside of base 102 while keeping intact the other skin coloring element106 on the other side of base 102. The coupling method illustrated inFIG. 2B is similar to the one in FIG. 2A where a “snap” type connectionis utilized via one or more protrusions 201 disposed around a perimeterof each skin coloring element 106 that engage one or more grooves 203formed in aperture 105 of base 102. Similar to protrusion 200 and groove202 of FIG. 2A, protrusion 201 and groove 203 of FIG. 2B may have anysuitable size and configuration to facilitate the insertion and removalof skin coloring elements 106.

FIGS. 3A and 3B are perspective and elevation views, respectively,illustrating an example method of coloring a person's scalp 300. In theillustrated embodiment, scalp 300 includes a bald spot 302 surrounded byhair 304. A user or other person's hand 308 grips handle 104 of brush100 and positions skin coloring elements 106 on one side of base 102over bald spot 302 in order to color scalp 300. In this embodiment, thecoloring of scalp 300 causes bald spot 302 to substantially resemblehair 304 in color in order to camouflage bald spot 302. As illustratedbest in FIG. 3B, the user places coloring agents 108 of skin coloringelements 106 on one side of brush 100 in contact with bald spot 302 inorder to transfer some of the coloring agent 108 to scalp 300 in orderto camouflage bald spot 302. The user manipulates brush 100 in order tocover as much of bald spot 302 as desired and as thoroughly as desired.Because of their elongated nature, skin coloring elements 106 easilypass through hair 304 to avoid tangling. If, during the course ofcoloring scalp 300, coloring agents 108 become dull or unusable for somereason, in one embodiment, the user may simply remove brush 100 fromscalp 300 and either flip brush 100 over and use skin coloring elements106 on the other side of brush 100 or sharpen or replace one or moreskin coloring elements 106. In addition, the user may want to replaceone or more skin coloring elements 106 to achieve a different color orcolor combination or may want to remove one or more skin coloringelements 106 depending on the shape and location of bald spot 302. Forexample, the user may want to remove one or more skin coloring elements106 to avoid contact between skin coloring elements 106 and hair 304.

Although embodiments of the invention and some of their advantages aredescribed in detail, a person skilled in the art could make variousalterations, additions, and omissions without departing from the spiritand scope of the present invention as defined by the appended claims.

1. An apparatus for cosmetically coloring skin, comprising: a base; anelongated handle extending from the base in a first direction; and aplurality of cosmetic skin coloring elements configured to couple to thebase and extend therefrom in a second direction substantiallyperpendicular to the first direction, each cosmetic skin coloringelement comprising a cosmetic skin coloring agent disposed proximate afree end thereof, the cosmetic skin coloring agents adapted tocosmetically color a desired area of the skin when directed over thedesired area of the skin through movement of the apparatus substantiallyparallel to the skin.
 2. The system of claim 1, wherein: the base isgenerally flat and comprises first and second sides; and the cosmeticskin coloring elements are configured to couple to and extend from boththe first and second sides.
 3. The system of claim 1, wherein: the baseis generally flat and comprises first and second sides; and eachcosmetic skin coloring element comprises an intermediate portion betweentwo free ends thereof and a cosmetic skin coloring agent disposedproximate each free end thereof, each cosmetic skin coloring elementconfigured to couple to the base at the intermediate portion thereof. 4.The system of claim 1, wherein the cosmetic skin coloring elementscomprise elongated eyebrow pencils that can be selectively sharpened. 5.The system of claim 1, wherein each cosmetic skin coloring element isselectively interchangeable with a different cosmetic skin coloringelement having a cosmetic skin coloring agent of a different color. 6.The system of claim 1, wherein the cosmetic skin coloring agentscomprise a variety of colors.
 7. The system of claim 1, wherein aconfiguration of the cosmetic skin coloring elements is selectivelychangeable depending on the desired area of the skin to be cosmeticallycolored.
 8. The system of claim 1, wherein each cosmetic skin coloringelement comprises a protrusion at an end distal the free end, theprotrusion configured to engage a groove formed in the base for couplingthe cosmetic skin coloring element to the base.
 9. The system of claim1, wherein the desired area of the skin to be cosmetically coloredcomprises a desired area of a person's scalp.
 10. An apparatus forcosmetically coloring a desired area of a person's scalp, comprising: abase; an elongated handle extending from the base in a first direction;and a plurality of elongated cosmetic scalp coloring pencil elementsconfigured to couple to the base and extend therefrom in a seconddirection substantially perpendicular to the first direction, eachelongated cosmetic scalp coloring pencil element comprising a cosmeticscalp coloring agent disposed within a core of the elongated cosmeticscalp coloring pencil element and exposed proximate a free end thereof,the cosmetic scalp coloring agents adapted to cosmetically color adesired area of the person's scalp when directed over the desired areathrough movement of the apparatus substantially parallel to the person'sscalp, each elongated cosmetic scalp coloring pencil element adapted tobe selectively uncoupled from the base for sharpening or replacementwith a different elongated cosmetic scalp coloring pencil element havinga cosmetic scalp coloring agent of the same or a different color. 11.The system of claim 10, wherein the elongated cosmetic scalp coloringpencil elements comprise eyebrow pencils.
 12. A method for cosmeticallycoloring skin, comprising: gripping an apparatus comprising a base, anelongated handle extending from the base in a first direction, and aplurality of cosmetic skin coloring elements configured to couple to thebase and extend therefrom in a second direction substantiallyperpendicular to the first direction, each cosmetic skin coloringelement comprising a cosmetic skin coloring agent disposed proximate afree end thereof, the cosmetic skin coloring agents adapted tocosmetically color a desired area of the skin when directed over thedesired area through movement of the apparatus substantially parallel tothe skin; and moving the apparatus substantially parallel to the skin todirect the cosmetic skin coloring agents over the desired area tocosmetically color the desired area.
 13. The method of claim 12,wherein: the base is generally flat and comprises first and secondsides; and the cosmetic skin coloring elements are configured to coupleto and extend from both the first and second sides.
 14. The method ofclaim 12, wherein: the base is generally flat and comprises first andsecond sides; and each cosmetic skin coloring element comprises anintermediate portion between two free ends thereof and a cosmetic skincoloring agent disposed proximate each free end thereof, each cosmeticskin coloring element configured to couple to the base at theintermediate portion thereof.
 15. The method of claim 12, wherein thecosmetic skin coloring elements comprise elongated eyebrow pencils thatcan be selectively sharpened.
 16. The method of claim 12, wherein eachcosmetic skin coloring element is selectively interchangeable with adifferent cosmetic skin coloring element having a cosmetic skin coloringagent of a different color.
 17. The method of claim 12, wherein thecosmetic skin coloring agents comprise a variety of colors.
 18. Themethod of claim 12, wherein a configuration of the cosmetic skincoloring elements is selectively changeable depending on the desiredarea of the skin to be cosmetically colored.
 19. The method of claim 12,wherein each cosmetic skin coloring element comprises a protrusion at anend distal the free end, the protrusion configured to engage a grooveformed in the base for coupling the cosmetic skin coloring element tothe base.
 20. The method of claim 12, wherein the desired area of theskin to be cosmetically colored comprises a desired area of a person'sscalp.
 21. A method for coloring skin, comprising: gripping an apparatuscomprising a base and a plurality of skin coloring elements configuredto couple to the base and extend therefrom, each skin coloring elementcomprising a coloring agent disposed proximate a free end thereof, thecoloring agents adapted to color a desired area of the skin whendirected over the desired area through movement of the apparatussubstantially parallel to the skin; and moving the apparatussubstantially parallel to the skin to direct the coloring agents overthe desired area to color the desired area; the desired area of the skinto be colored comprising a desired area of a person's scalp.